🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨

Arctia plantaginis, the wood tiger, is a moth of the family Erebidae. Several subspecies are found in the Holarctic ecozone south to Anatolia, Transcaucasus, northern Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan. One subspecies is endemic to North America.

Wood tiger moths have coloring reminiscent of the tiger and are found in many parts of the world. In this new effort, the researchers took a closer look at how they ward off predators by collecting multiple specimens and bringing them back to the lab for study.

Prior research had shown that the moths excreted fluid from glands on the backs of their necks—a good location for warding off birds, their main predator. Birds eat moths and catch them by grabbing them by the back of the neck. Anecdotal evidence had suggested that when birds grab a wood tiger moth, they tend to let it go, and have been seen trying to clean their beaks afterwards. Other anecdotal evidence also suggested that ants tend to avoid the moths, likely due to fluid excreted from the moth's anus.

The moths produce different fluid deterrents to ward off different types of predators.